Lance Stephenson

Pacers president Larry Bird has been dropping hints to Lance Stephenson that the team intends to take care of him in free agency this summer, as Stephenson tells Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. Bird keeps telling him, “You’re next,” Stephenson says, likely in reference to the lucrative contracts the team has handed out the past two summers to Roy Hibbert, David West and George Hill.

Stephenson is confident he’ll stay with the Pacers even though his bargain contract, which pays him slightly more than $1MM this year, expires at season’s end. The Pacers also have Danny Granger on an expiring deal, and with about $60.6MM committed for next season, it’ll be a tight squeeze to stay under the projected $75.7MM luxury tax line. Indiana’s brass has repeatedly expressed unwillingness to pay the tax, so it may come down to a choice between Stephenson and Granger, barring a trade to clear more room.

I doubt Stephenson will see a contract with an eight-figure annual salary, like the deals for Hibbert and West, but perhaps the club would be willing to do something similar to Hill’s $40MM deal, in which the team spread the money out over the maximum five seasons. That still wouldn’t leave much room for Granger if he returns to a form that’s at all close to what he exhibited before missing almost all of last season, but it would still give the team some breathing room to sign draft picks and other free agents.

Of course, the Pacers and Stephenson can’t sign a new contract until after the July Moratorium, more than eight months from now, and he’s ineligible for an extension, so plenty can change before pen hits paper. Stephenson left tonight’s game with a sore left knee, and while it doesn’t sound too serious, it serves as a reminder that a significant injury could prompt the team to change its plans.

Having locked up Paul George to a maximum-salary extension this offseason, the Pacers’ ability to continue adding salary for 2014/15 may be limited. However, Lance Stephenson, who will hit free agency next summer, tells Mark Montieth of Pacers.com that he fully intends to remain with the Pacers.

“It’s a long season, I’m not thinking nothing about contracts,” Stephenson said. “I’m going to stay with the Pacers, so I’m not even thinking about the contract.”

Asked if that meant he’d turn down a larger offer from another term to re-sign with Indiana, Stephenson said again that he’s “staying with the Pacers.” We’re still nearly eight months from next year’s free agent period, so we probably shouldn’t read too much into Stephenson’s comments yet. When other teams with deeper pockets get the opportunity to court him, things could change. For now though, it seems as if the 23-year-old wants to work out a new deal with the Pacers

The Pacers already project to be an over-the-cap team in 2014/15, with about $60MM committed to eight guaranteed contracts. Adding Luis Scola‘s partially guaranteed deal and a modest salary for Stephenson could have the team inching toward tax territory, which is likely an area ownership wants to avoid.

Because he’s playing his fourth season in the NBA, Stephenson will be an unrestricted free agent in 2014. That means the Pacers won’t necessarily have the opportunity to match rival offers for the former second-round pick, but it sounds like he’ll probably give the club that chance anyway.